They say “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” but that just won’t do for music. Surely there must a scientifically sound way of determining once and for all what the most beautiful openings are in the history of symphonic music?

Well, here you go. This list is as official and definitive as it gets. You’ll never find a more scientifically sound selection.

Rules are simple –

1. No composer is allowed more than one slot.

2. The piece has to be a really great symphony – not just a pretty first two minutes.

3. Numbered symphonies only. Work like  Tchaikovsky’s Manfred, Strauss’s Alpine and Liszt’s Dante are not eligible

There were some surprises for me here. Much as I love Dvorak and Tchaikovsky (and beautiful as almost all of their music is), neither made the top 10.

Let us know who would be on your list!

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10. Vaughan Williams – Symphony No. 5. 

Let’s face it, RVW enters this competition with an unfair advantage. He does “beautiful” better than just about anyone. No surprise, then, that the composer of the Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis and The Lark Ascending gave us one of the most beautiful openings ever to start a symphony in his Fifth Symphony. The real surprise is that he also gave us one of the ugliest (in the best sense of the word) openings in his Fourth.

9. Mahler – Symphony No. 10. 

Nobody was better than Mahler at finding ways to start a symphony that are both unforgettable and irresistible. But, one wouldn’t call the openings of M2, M3, M5 or M6 beautiful. Rather the opposite. Four is magical, but more quirky than lovely. Eight is magnificent but noisy. It was at the beginning and end of his career that Mahler went all-out writing beautiful openings. The first few minutes of the First Symphony make up one of the most beguiling first paragraphs of any symphonic work, and, in the Ninth, he returned to form with an opening as gorgeous as it is profoundly emotional. But he saved the best for last. His Tenth symphony opens with some of the most beautiful music ever written. And it gets better from there.

8. Schumann – Symphony No. 2.

It figures – some symphonies have all the luck. The official “greatest symphony written since the death of Beethoven” would also just have to have the most beautiful opening of any Schumann symphony, and one of the most beautiful openings in all symphonic music. Show off!

 

7. Mozart – Symphony 29.

He’s a composer whose name is virtually synonymous with beauty, but, perhaps as a capitulation to the noisy audiences he had to deal with in Vienna and Paris (the opening of the Paris Symphony, a gesture called a “premier coup d’archet”  was calculated to stun the audience into silence), he rarely starts a symphony in straight-up beautiful mode. 41 opens with bombast, 40 with mortal terror, 39 with grandeur. But is there anything in the universe more beautiful than the opening of Mozart 29? It’s the perfect mix of charm and sorrow.

 

6. Beethoven – Symphony No. 6.

It was a close call for Beethoven’s place  on this list between the opening of the Pastoral Symphony and magical and mysterious opening of the 4th. The 6th wins on the basis of “degree of difficulty.” It’s harder to write really beautiful fast music than really beautiful slow music. This is fast music, and about as beautiful as music gets.

 

5. Elgar – Symphony No. 1.

I hear the doubters out there even now saying “I mean, hey, it’s just a slow march with a good tune. What’s the big deal? Wait a second…. ummm…. Oh god, I’m sobbing. I’m sobbing.” Yup. That’s Elgar 1 for you.

 

4. Brahms – Symphony No. 2.

There is no tougher call to make than “which is the greatest of the Brahms symphonies.” How to you compare 4 versions of perfection? But if you ask “which Brahms symphony has the most beautiful opening,” the answer is clear. Symphony No. 2! Wait, maybe Symphony No. 4? Gosh, he does make things hard. When I bought this film on VHS c. 1993, I gave up halfway through the first movement and the tape sat on around my living room for over a year. I didn’t know what to make of his conducting. Later on, of course, I figured it out, but then, after much further study, I realised I’ll never quite figure it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHmkl7GM_es

 

3. Sibelius – Symphony No. 6

Sibelius seems to have a reputation as a fairly austere character. Maybe it’s all those pictures of him when he was old, looking his huge bald head had really been hewn from a giant block of granite. And yet, he may be the most prolific writer of beautiful openings of any symphonist. Only the Third has an opening which isn’t strikingly gorgeous, but it’s still pretty damn lovely in its earthy, rustic way. But, stunning as the opening of the other five Sibelius symphonies are, it is, without a doubt, the Sixth which officially and definitively has the most beautiful beginning…. and ending.

2. Schubert – Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished.”

I once made a terrible programming mistake. I programmed Schubert 8 and Mahler 6 on the same concert, thinking they would compliment each other well. The Schubert is about the right length, not too hard to put together, well-loved by audiences. Well, on the night, Schubert’s spirit touched ours. The orchestra played it so beautifully I didn’t think anyone could breathe  at the end. There was really nothing left to say after this piece. Which is not a state of mind you want to be in right before playing an 80 minute Mahler symphony. Not only is it one of the most beautiful openings ever, it gets no less beautiful at any point. This recording starts with the softest pianissimo on record. You’ll need to turn the volume way up, I’m afraid, but it’s worth it.

 

1. Bruckner – Symphony No. 7.

The snarky line on Bruckner is that every symphony begins like Beethoven 9, and that his default setting is bombastic and tragic. Not so. Bruckner could legitimately claim to have written several openings worthy of inclusion on this list. What could be more mysterious and magical than the opening of the 5th? And surely nothing could be more spell-bindingly beautiful than the “I love the horn” opening of the 4th? Well, I’ll tell you what could. The opening of Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony. Without a doubt, officially and definitively the most beautiful opening of any symphony ever written.

https://youtu.be/VuMef33J6aA?t=34

 

 

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Honorable Mentions

Hans Gál – Symphony No. 1, 2 or 3…. Or 4.

Actually, Gál should really be in the list above. The problem is which of his four symphonies to choose. Help me, guys!

What does it say about the music industry that this cycle had never been recorded until 2010-13 and that none of the symphonies has been performed again since then?!?!?!??!

 

Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 6.

Perhaps the greatest melodist music has produced… And his harmonies are good, too. Interesting then, that in his symphonies, he rarely opens with beauty. And when he does, it is the starkest, bleakest, most desolate beauty I know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7JFPWYq7o0

 

Haydn – Symphony No. 92.

I suppose part of the reason he doesn’t appear in the list above is that in any symphonic competition, as soon as you bring Haydn into the equation, it’s like sending Michael Jordan in his prime into a neighbourhood pickup game. It’s just kind of embarrassing. But, actually, Haydn had bigger fish to fry than just making things really, really beautiful. Considering which, this is pretty damn beautiful

 

Philip Sawyers – Symphony No. 3

Sawyers definitely knows how to do a beautiful opening. The beginnings of both his Violin and Cello Concerti are breathtaking, as is the beginning of his song cycle “Songs of Loss and Regret.” The beginning of his Third Symphony is thing of fugal beauty, but also shot through with tension and menace.

 

Also suggested

Rubbra – Symphony No. 4

Fun fact: Rubrra was an early and supportive mentor of Philip Sawyers

 

 

Haydn – Symphony No. 6 “Le Matin”

“Because….Haydn”